In the United States, prison inmates have certain visitation rights. By allowing prisoners to have some contact with the outside world while incarcerated, the justice system aims to facilitate their transition back into society upon release. Traditional forms of contact include telephone calls, in-person visitation, etc. More recently, technological advances have allowed jails and prisons to provide other types of visitation, including videoconferences and electronic chat sessions.
Despite these various visitation opportunities, the inventors hereof have determined that incarcerated parents are less likely to communicate with their children and vice-versa. As a consequence, children of incarcerated parents have a greater likelihood of later becoming incarcerated themselves. Also, incarcerated parents who do not communicate with family members frequently, especially with their own children, have higher recidivism rates.